Soundstaging and Imaging: The Delusion about The Illusion

Trying to get the soundstage correct without a methodology is like trying to solve a bunch of simultaneous equations with more unknowns than the number of equations. Moving the speakers a little and listening a little is doomed from the start. To compound the problem, when you improve room acoustics and or improve the system, what then? Move a little, listen a little? 😛

One of my first jobs was calibrating the optics at US Army Map Service used for 3D imaging. The Zeiss Stereo optics are analogous to stereo audio inasmuch as the overlay of two different maps photographed from different angles, when viewed through stereo optics, appear in 3D. Ditto for 3D movies. 

I’m pretty sure I can break this deadlock. Reverberant decay, echo, acoustic reflections, and any other naturally occuring dynamic acoustic phenomena found in the recording venue for live recordings are captured by the microphones and form the basis of the venue’s “soundstage” when played back on a reasonably good system. This soundstage information is contained in mono and stereo recordings. “A Reasonably good system” obviously being subjective. 🤗 In fact, as I’ve written, the actual Time-Space of the recording is captured on the recording but that’s beyond scope and best saved for another day. 😛

That’s pretty good, but you might have missed the point of the OP, which is is imaging real? Sorry for the two is’s in a row.

You guys can back to sleep, now. An obvious case of snarkolepsy. Sleepwalking and still snarky. 😴

Addendum to previous post on Soundstage 3 dimensions. Not only is the soundstage on mediocre systems not three dimension, the dimensions are not recreated as they were recorded. The soundstage evolution as one progressive improves the system, including speaker placement, room acoustics treatments, isolation, tweaks, what have you, the soundstage expanding sphere of all three dimensions should, ideally, approach 🔜 the room dimensions of the recording venue, including a more organized, less congealed and more detailed panorama of all the musicians. As signal to noise + distortion ratio is improved the soundstage height should go through the roof.

Just to mention that soundstage has three dimensions, not just depth. It has depth, width and height. But Rome wasn’t built in a day. Nobody said it’s easy to get Boston Symphony Hall to magically appear in your room. If it was easy everybody could do it. Once you can get all three dimensions in their full measure you will feel as free and happy as a Swedish teenage girl.

Both opposing views expressed in the article are wrong and pedestrian. No offense to anyone intended.